Sudanese doctors begin strike over salary, insecurity

September 11, 2022 (KHARTOUM) –  Resident doctors in Sudan hospitals began a three-day strike on Sunday over grievances that include the delayed payment of salaries and lack of a secure environment.

Thousands of doctors went on strike in some 30 public hospitals, protesting against the non-payment of their salaries for nearly a year and to demand better security and improve the worsening workplace.

“Thousands of junior physicians in thirty government hospitals across Sudan went on strike today, with a success rate of over 90%,” the spokesperson of the Resident Doctors Committee, Muayed Ali, told Sudan Tribune.

He added that doctors in hospitals had notified the administration that their strike would last for three days.

Junior doctors complain of the high rate of inflation despite the public statements about the decrease in prices as the living conditions are worsening and millions of people are impoverished after the coup and the pause of international economic support to Sudan.

The spokesman disclosed that the ministry of health’s under-secretary had pledged before the strike to meet their demand but the government did not pay them.

The doctors demand also to ensure a safe environment for them at hospitals as they are more and more hit by the growing insecurity in the country.

Sudanese practitioners complain of repeated assaults by patients’ families or members of the security forces while performing their work in hospitals.

They point an accusing finger at the coup leaders, saying the security conditions have worsened in hospitals after the dissolution of the civilian government.

(ST)